The damage was already done, the only question left was what Google Inc. chief executive Larry Page had actually planned to say in a press release inadvertently made public with the phrase, all in capital letters: “PENDING LARRY QUOTE.”

Confusion quickly set in among investors after the search engine giant’s third-quarter financial results were released several hours ahead of schedule, around 12:30 p.m. ET on Thursday.

Compounding the woes for Google, the results fell well short of Wall Street expectations, pushing shares of the Silicon Valley stalwart into a tailspin, wiping US$15.8-billion off its market capitalization. Despite record revenue in the quarter, Google’s margins fell, as profits failed to keep pace with revenue.

Google managed to halt the trading of its shares on the Nasdaq, but not before its stock had fallen about 10% on the bad news. It attributed the premature release of its earnings on the SEC website to its financial partners, RR Donnelley, which reportedly filed Google’s draft release statement without authorization.

When Google finally held its scheduled conference call with investors after the markets closed, Mr. Page led off by apologizing for the confusion.

“I’m sorry for the scramble earlier today,” he said. “They hit send on the release just a bit early.”

Google said revenue for the quarter grew 45% over the same period last year to a record US$14.1-billion. However, the company said net income fell to about 19% of revenue in the quarter, down from 31% of revenue last year.

Net income fell 20% to US$2.18-billion. Profit was US$9.03 per share, well short of Wall Street’s expected US$10.65 per share.

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Significantly, the cost advertisers pay per click for ads on Google sites and members of its network dropped for the fourth consecutive quarter.

The company reported a 15% drop in the average amount paid per click versus the same time last year. The cost-per-click average was down 3% compared with the second quarter.

Google bought Motorola Mobility Holdings for US$12.5-billion this year to expand its presence in the hardware market. But the unit has not been a strong performer for the company and it reported a 20% drop in net revenue in the quarter, with a GAAP operating loss of US$527-million.

Google’s shrinking profit margin indicates the company is facing the same challenges as other Internet giants, including Facebook Inc., with transitioning the advertising success the company has enjoyed on desktop computers to advertising on smaller mobile screens, including smartphones and tablets.

Colin Gillis, a technology analyst at BGC Partners in New York, said Google’s stock was “ripe for a pullback” and news of the steep drop in average cost per click didn’t help.

He attributed that decline in part to the growing use of smartphones (which crossed the one billion threshold for the first time in the third quarter, according to a report from Strategy Analytics on Wednesday) since advertisers tend to spend less on mobile ads than PC ads.

“The issue is mobile clicks are about 56¢ on the dollar. Why do advertisers pay less for mobile? Because it converts less. That’s a problem that’s going to be ongoing and they need to figure that out.”

Cantor Fitzgerald Internet and media analyst Youssef Sqauli, who has a US$830 price target on Google stock, maintained a more bullish view on the company despite the results.

“While light, [the results] do not change our thesis on the company or its shares,” he said in a note to clients. He added that although the average cost per click declined, the number of paid clicks as a whole was still up 33% year over year.

When Google officially issued its earnings release shortly after 3 p.m. — still ahead of its usual after-markets schedule — Mr. Page’s placeholder quote was replaced with one praising the strong revenue growth.

“We had a strong quarter,” he wrote. “Revenue was up 45% year-on-year, and, at just 14 years old, we cleared our first $14-billion revenue quarter. I am also really excited about the progress we’re making creating a beautifully simple, intuitive Google experience across all devices.”

Here is a brief history of other cheerleading quotes from Page:

October 18, 2012

Q3 2012 report: “We had a strong quarter. Revenue was up 45 percent year-on-year, and, at just fourteen years old, we cleared our first $14 billion revenue quarter,” said Larry Page, CEO of Google. “I am also really excited about the progress we’re making creating a beautifully simple, intuitive Google experience across all devices.”

July 19, 2012

Q2 2012 report: “Google standalone had a strong quarter with 21% year-on-year revenue growth, and we launched a bunch of exciting new products at I/O – in particular the Nexus 7 tablet, which has received rave reviews,” said Larry Page, CEO of Google. “This quarter is also special because Motorola is now part of the Google family, and we’re excited about the potential to build great devices for users.”

April 12, 2012

Q1 2012 report: “Google had another great quarter with revenues up 24% year on year,” said Larry Page, CEO of Google. “We also saw tremendous momentum from the big bets we’ve made in products like Android, Chrome and YouTube. We are still at the very early stages of what technology can do to improve people’s lives and we have enormous opportunities ahead. It is a very exciting time to be at Google.”

January 19, 2012

Q4 2011 report: “Google had a really strong quarter ending a great year. Full year revenue was up 29%, and our quarterly revenue blew past the $10 billion mark for the first time,” said Larry Page, CEO of Google. “I am super excited about the growth of Android, Gmail, and Google+, which now has 90 million users globally – well over double what I announced just three months ago. By building a meaningful relationship with our users through Google+ we will create amazing experiences across our services. I’m very excited about what we can do in 2012 – there are tremendous opportunities to help users and grow our business.”

October 13 2011

Q3 2011 report: “We had a great quarter,” said Larry Page, CEO of Google. “Revenue was up 33% year on year and our quarterly revenue was just short of $10 billion. Google+ is now open to everyone and we just passed the 40 million user mark. People are flocking into Google+ at an incredible rate and we are just getting started!”

July 14, 2011

Q2 2011 report: “We had a great quarter, with revenue up 32% year on year for a record breaking over $9 billion of revenue,” said Larry Page, CEO of Google. “I’m super excited about the amazing response to Google+ which lets you share just like in real life.”